Celebrate St. Patrick's Day!

Chef Patti Battista

Corned beef and cabbage
Horseradish sauce
Green cupcakes
Green milk (?!?)

Corned beef and cabbage is the classic St. Patrick's Day dish and is, fortunately, there are few meals that are easier to prepare!

Corned Beef and Cabbage

One 3-pound corned beef brisket* (uncooked), in brine
16 cups cold water
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons black peppercorns
4 whole allspice berries
2 whole cloves
1/2 large head green cabbage (about 2 pounds), cut into 8 thick wedges
8 small new potatoes (about 1 1/4 pounds), halved
4 carrots, peeled and sliced into 1" chunks
Parsnips can be included for added sweetness - optional
Freshly ground black pepper

* You can also substitute bone in ham (well rinsed) for an Easter dish.

Serving suggestion: Whole-grain mustard or HORSERADISH SAUCE (below)

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F, or see below for stove top directions.

Place the corned beef in a colander in the sink and rinse well under cold running water.

Place the corned beef in a large Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid; add the water, bay leaves, peppercorns, allspice, and cloves. Bring to a boil, uncovered, and skim off any scum that rises to the surface. Cover and transfer pan to the oven, and braise until very tender, about 3 hours and 45 minutes.

Transfer the corned beef to a cutting board and cover tightly with foil to keep warm. Add the cabbage and potatoes to the cooking liquid and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes.

Stovetop directions: Cover the pot tightly, and allow it to slowly simmer for about 3 hours. Check every 20 minutes or so to make sure the water is NOT evaporating, and add more if needed. Add the cabbage and potatoes for the last half hour and take everything out when cabbage and potatoes are fork tender.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer the cabbage to a large platter. Slice the corned beef across the grain of the meat into thin slices. Lay the slices over the cabbage and surround it with the potatoes. Ladle some of the hot cooking liquid over the corned beef and season with pepper. Serve immediately with the mustard or horseradish sauce.

I serve a salad with a simple vinaigrette for starters and a crusty loaf of French bread with a garlic butter to complete the meal.

This dish is printed on the Food Network site but it has been a recipe I have used for many years. It always turns out great and is fairly error-proof. Basically, a fix-and-forget it dish.

Click here for some other great Irish recipes from Food Network!

Horseradish Sauce

3/4 cup mayonnaise
3/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons jarred grated horseradish (with liquid)
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2 teaspoons kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

In a small bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, sour cream, horseradish, zest, and 2 teaspoons salt. Season generously with pepper to taste. Refrigerate the horseradish sauce for at least 30 minutes before serving. For the mustard sauce, I mix equal parts of dijon mustard with mayo or serve the mustard by itself. It is great with any sauce or served alone.

Dessert: Green Cupcakes

Just take standard vanilla cupcake batter and add some green food coloring after it is mixed. (They may even sell a green batter mix these days!) Start with only 1 or 2 drops until you get the desired green color you are looking for. Mix well and then proceed to baking as normal.

Also, decorate the cupcake tops, and let the kids help with green gummy worms, green gun drops, etc. You can tint the frosting green as well. Let the kids decide what green things they want to add. Coconut can be tinted green too with some food coloring. Let the kids experiment with turning things green with the food coloring. I would recommend wearing an apron or smock since it can get messy--but that's what cooking with little kids is about! Not many kids like to wear gloves, so wash their hands frequently to get the food coloring off little fingers. (It does wash off in a few days if you get carried away and forget.)

Kids can help with the entire process of cupcakes from mixing the batter, pouring the mix (put it in a measuring cup with a pour spout for easier pouring) to watching the timer when they are finished cooking. Once the cupcakes are cool, the kids can frost them for the family. One idea is to make special ones for each family member and place them at the table for dessert.

Green Milk(?!?)

You can even make a green milk by adding food coloring...it looks gross to a sensible adult, but kids love that stuff...especially, it seems, the boys. Go nuts and have fun! They are only young once, and as we all know, they grow FAST!!

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To contact Chef Patti, email her at dgourmet@rochester.rr.com.